1. Technical Field
This description generally relates to automation of games which may include games with or without wagering.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are numerous types of games that people play for entertainment or educational purposes.
Some games are classified as board games. Such games typically include a game layout which is defined or formed by a set of demarcations on a board. Typically, players advance game related pieces such as tokens, tiles or markers along various paths on the game layout to obtain some goal. The goal may, for example, include being the first player to reach a destination, collecting cards, points or pretend currency, or collecting other game related pieces such as tokens, tiles, houses, wedges, etc. Examples of boards games include chess, checkers, MONOPOLY, SCRABBLE, TRIVIAL PURSUIT, BATTLE SHIP, RISK, LIFE, CANDYLAND, and CHUTES AND LADDERS, GO FISH.
Some games are commonly associated with wagering. For example, roulette, craps, and many card games played with playing cards, for instance blackjack, baccarat, various types of poker, PAI GOW poker, LET IT RIDE. Sometimes games commonly associated with wagering are played for fun, without the exchange of money and/or for charitable fund raisers which typically involves pretend money. Card games may be played with one or more standard decks of playing cards. A standard deck of playing cards typically comprises fifty-two playing cards, each playing card having a combination of a rank symbol and a suit symbol, selected from thirteen rank symbols (i.e., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A) and four suit symbols (i.e.,  and . Some games may include non-standard playing cards, for example playing cards with symbols other than the rank and suit symbols associated with a standard deck.
Gaming tables have traditionally consisted of a wood structure with a printed felt and an arm pad. There are numerous games played at conventional gaming tables. For example, roulette, craps, and card games played with playing cards. Table games have long been played on a traditional green felt table, with one or more players sitting at one side of the table and the dealer at the other side of the table standing in the casino pit area. A dealer or an electronic shuffler shuffles the decks of playing cards, and which are dealt to the players one by one from a card deck shoe or from a hand held deck. Players place bets or wagers on the table, typically prior to the playing cards being dealt. At the conclusion of the game the dealer judges the hands of the various players, including in some games the dealers own hand. If a player has a winning hand, the dealer pays the player based upon the size of the wager initially bet and any additional wagers made during game. Losing players have their wagers collected by the dealer. Then the next round or hand of the game begins.
Pit bosses monitor the amount of wagering by identified players and manually reward players with complimentary benefits commonly referred to as “comps” credited to the player account based upon this wager rate. Often this amount of the comp is significantly off because the pit boss is concurrently monitoring several players at several different tables as well as handling different duties in the pit. This leads to the casino or player being adversely affected.
The pit boss and surveillance cameras monitor the dealer and players to ensure that they are not secretly colluding or are individually acting to defraud the casino. Keen eyes by casino personnel are the only thing that keeps the games honest, and mistakes sometimes happen.
In recent years electronic systems have been added to table games to aid in the proper comping of players. Typically, such systems electronically detect the size of the bet or wager each play by a player. The chips used by players to place bets or wagers may be marked either optically or via wireless interrogation. Chips may be marked with a bar code of some other indicia, that is either visible or non visible to the player. Alternatively, chips may carry radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders. Machine-readable symbol readers or RFID readers recognize the bet or wager by each identified player, and the appropriate comps may be credited to the patron's account based upon the size of wagers. Also, the players overall value to the casino can be calculated since both wins and losses can be electronically monitored. Table gaming bet or wager recognition has become a significant focus in the casino industry as a way to properly understand total patron value. Each of these technologies has its own fidelity and resolution issues that need to be improved upon.
To aid in fraud detection, table game manufacturers have added the ability to detect the playing cards that are on the playing surface of the gaming table. Some systems read or scan the playing card as the playing cards come out of a deck shoe. Others systems know the order or sequence of playing cards in the card shoe. Some systems may randomly build a card order or sequence, and then also store the order or sequence associated with the deck. Thus when the playing cards are dealt from the card shoe, the order or sequence is pre-known by the system. Others systems read the playing cards after they are collected at the end of play or hand, and returned to a discard shoe or removed from the gaming table, for example into a holding area. The goal is to know every playing card that is dealt to each participant, including the dealer, and to look for new or fake playing cards that have been added or substituted into the game by the players or dealers. Some systems monitor all of the metrics of the games so dealer performance can be monitored. Reports may be run to see which dealers are paying out over the typical rate or paying out too much to specific players.
If the playing cards in play are known to the system, then various bonus games or awards, be electronically provided when certain triggering events occur. For example a certain type of full house (e.g., three of a kind combined with a pair) could trigger a progressive bonus award to the player or everyone at the same gaming table as the player at that time. This automatic award is clearly an improvement over the manual approaches used to award to players after the playing cards are shown to the dealer and the pit boss. An improved bonus game or bonus card experience that can occur in the middle of a game would be of value to players and the casino. Video card games like video poker have done this effectively over the years and the same type of experiences needs to be brought to table games.
New table games are often introduced to casino patrons. However, these games require that players are trained on the rules, or the games risk failure. This training takes time and typically slows up wagering and hurts the casino bottom line. Some players will often avoid new table games all together because of the associated learning curve. An improvement to the learning cycle is highly desirable.
Virtual or video based table games could solve many of the aforementioned issues, but they have had limited success to this date. These games suffer because the players are accustomed to the physical playing cards and chips. It is difficult for a player of traditional table games to give up the tactile feel of playing cards and chips in their hands. There is something special about holding the playing cards and lifting up the corner of a playing card to peek at the markings which makes the table game experience unique. Players enjoy seeing their playing cards come out of the card shoe and slide across the table. The pace and tease of the unknown playing cards is motivating, almost compelling factor for most players. A table game product that allows both the new virtual (video) and traditional physical cards and chips would give the player the best of both worlds. Also, it is desirable to improve the casino experience and operation.
Casinos and other gaming establishments are continually looking for ways to make gaming fresher and more exciting for their patrons. For example, many casinos offer the ability to place bonus wagers and/or progressive wagers. New approaches to varying existing gaming and otherwise servicing patrons are highly desirable.